Power Windows

• Released October 1985 by Mercury Records
• Went Platinum (1,000,000 copies) on January 27, 1986
• Purchase This Album

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1. The Big Money (5:34)
2. Grand Designs (5:05)
3. Manhattan Project (5:04)
4. Marathon (6:09)
5. Territories (6:18)
6. Middletown Dreams (5:15)
7. Emotion Detector (5:10)
8. Mystic Rhythms (5:53)

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Lyrics

• The Big Money (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  Big money goes around the world
  Big money underground
  Big money got a mighty voice
  Big money make no sound
  Big money pull a million strings
  Big money hold the prize
  Big money weave a mighty web
  Big money draw the flies
  
  Sometimes pushing people around
  Sometimes pulling out the rug
  Sometimes pushing all the buttons
  Sometimes pulling out the plug
  It's the power and the glory
  It's a war in paradise
  It's a cinderella story
  On a tumble of the dice
  
  Big money goes around the world
  Big money take a cruise
  Big money leave a mighty wake
  Big money leave a bruise
  Big money make a million dreams
  Big money spin big deals
  Big money make a mighty head
  Big money spin big wheels
  
  Sometimes building ivory towers
  Sometimes knocking castles down
  Sometimes building you a stairway --
  Lock you underground
  It's that old-time religion
  it's the kingdom they would rule
  It's the fool on television
  Getting paid to play the fool
  
  Big money goes around the world
  Big money give and take
  Big money done a power of good
  Big money make mistakes
  Big money got a heavy hand
  Big money take control
  Big money got a mean streak
  Big money got no soul...
  
  
• Grand Designs (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  A to B --
  Different degrees...
  
  So much style without substance
  So much stuff without style
  It's hard to recognize the real thing
  It comes along once in a while
  Like a rare and precious metal beneath a ton of rock
  It takes some time and trouble to separate from the stock
  You sometimes have to listen to a lot of useless talk
  
  Shapes and forms against the norms --
  Against the run of the mill
  Swimming against the stream
  Life in two dimensions is a mass production scheme
  
  So much poison in power, the principles get left out
  So much mind on the matter, the spirit gets forgotten about
  Like a righteous inspiration overlooked in haste
  Like a teardrop in the ocean, a diamond in the waste
  Some world-views are spacious -- and some are merely spaced
  
  Against the run of the mill
  Static as it seems
  We break the surface tension with our wild kinetic dreams
  Curves and lines -- of grand designs...
  
  
• Manhattan Project (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  Imagine a time when it all began
  In the dying days of a war
  A weapon -- that would settle the score
  Whoever found it first would be sure to do their worst --
  They always had before...
  
  Imagine a man where it all began
  A scientist pacing the floor
  In each nation -- always eager to explore
  To build the best big stick
  To turn the winning trick --
  But this was something more...
  
  The big bang -- took and shook the world
  Shot down the rising sun
  the end was begun -- it would hit everyone
  When the chain reaction was done
  The big shots -- try to hold it back
  Fools try to wish it away
  The hopeful depend on a world without end
  Whatever the hopeless may say
  
  Imagine a place where it all began
  They gathered from across the land
  To work in the secrecy of the desert sand
  All of the brightest boys
  To play with the biggest toys --
  More than they bargained for...
  
  Imagine a man when it all began
  The pilot of "Enola Gay"
  Flying out of the shockwave on that August day
  All the powers that be, and the course of history,
  Would be changed for evermore...
  
  
• Marathon (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  It's not how fast you can go
  The force goes into the flow
  If you pick up the beat
  You can forget about the heat
  More than just survival
  More than just a flash
  More than just a dotted line
  More than just a dash
  
  It's a test of ultimate will
  The heartbreak climb uphill
  Got to pick up the pace
  If you want to stay in the race
  More than just blind ambition
  More than just simple greed
  More than just a finish line
  Must feed this burning need --
  In the long run...
  
  From first to last
  The peak is never passed
  Something always fires the light that gets in your eyes
  One moment's high, and glory rolls on by
  Like a streak of lightening that flashes and fades
  In the summer sky
  
  Your meters may overload
  You can rest at the side of the road
  You can miss a stride
  But nobody gets a free ride
  
  More than high performance
  More than just a spark
  More than just the bottom line
  Or a lucky shot in the dark --
  In the long run...
  
  You can do a lot in a lifetime
  If you don't burn out too fast
  You can make the most of the distance
  First you need endurance --
  First you've got to last...
  
  
• Territories (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  I see the Middle Kingdom between Heaven and Earth
  Like the Chinese call the country of their birth
  We all figure that our homes are set above
  Other people than the ones we know and love
  In every place with a name
  They play the same territorial game
  Hiding behind the lines
  Sending up warning signs
  
  The whole wide world
  An endless universe
  Yet we keep looking through
  The eyeglass in reverse
  Don't feed the people
  But we feed the machines
  Can't really feel
  What international means
  In different circles, we keep holding our ground
  In different circles, we keep spinning round and round
  
  We see so many tribes -- overrun and undermined
  While their invaders dream of lands they've left behind
  Better people -- better food -- and better beer
  Why move around the world when Eden was so near?
  The bosses get talking so tough
  And if that wasn't evil enough
  We get the drunken and passionate pride
  Of the citizens along for the ride
  
  They shoot without shame
  In the name of a piece of dirt
  For a change of accent
  Or the colour of your shirt
  Better the pride that resides
  In a citizen of the world
  Than the pride that divides
  When a colourful rag is unfurled
  
  
• Middletown Dreams (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  The office door closed early
  The hidden bottle came out
  The salesman turned to close the blinds
  A little slow now, a little stout
  But he's still heading down those tracks
  Any day now for sure
  Another day as drab as today
  Is more than a man can endure
  
  Dreams flow across the heartland
  Feeding on the fires
  Dreams transport desires
  Drive you when you're down --
  Dreams transport the ones who need to get out of town
  
  the boy walks with his best friend
  Through the fields of early May
  They walk awhile in silence
  One close -- one far away
  But he'd be climbing on that bus
  Just him and his guitar
  To blaze across the heavens
  Like a brilliant shooting star
  
  The middle-aged madonna
  Calls her neighbour on the phone
  Day by day the seasons pass
  And leave her life alone
  But she'll go walking out that door
  On some bright afternoon
  To go and paint big cities
  From a lonely attic room
  
  It's understood
  By every single person
  Who'd be elsewhere if they could
  So far so good
  And life's not unpleasant
  In their little neighbourhood
  
  They dream in Middletown...
  
  
• Emotion Detector (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  When we lift the covers from our feelings
  We expose our insecure spots
  Trust is just as rare as devotion--
  Forgive us our cynical thoughts
  If we need too much attention --
  Not content with being cool
  We must throw ourselves wide open
  And start acting like a fool
  If we need too much approval
  Then the cuts can seem too cruel
  
  Right to the heart of the matter
  Right to the beautiful part
  Illusions are painfully shattered
  Right where discovery starts
  In the secret wells of emotion
  Buried deep in our hearts
  
  It's true that love can change us
  But never quite enough
  Sometimes we are too tender
  Sometimes we're too tough
  If we get too much attention
  It gets hard to overrule
  So often fragile power turns
  To scorn and ridicule
  Sometimes our big splashes
  Are just ripples in the pool
  
  Feelings run high
  
  
• Mystic Rhythms (Lee, Lifeson, Peart)
  
  So many things I think about
  When I look far away
  Things I know -- things I wonder
  Things I'd like to say
  The more we think we know about
  The greater the unknown
  We suspend our disbelief
  And we are not alone --
  
  Mystic rhythms -- capture my thoughts
  And carry them away
  Mysteries of night escape the light of day
  Mystic rhythms -- under northern lights
  Primitive things stir
  The hearts of everyone
  
  We sometimes catch a window
  A glimpse of what's beyond
  Was it just imagination
  Stringing us along?
  More things than are dreamed about
  Unseen and unexplained
  We suspend our disbelief
  And we are entertained
  
  Mystic rhythms -- capture my thoughts
  And carry them away
  Nature seems to spin
  A supernatural way
  Mystic rhythms -- under city lights
  Or a canopy of stars
  We feel the powers and we wonder what they are
  We feel the push and pull of restless rhythms from afar